Here's an alternate answer for one of the Travel Quiz questions:
The question was, "Name an African country that becomes a woman's name when you remove the first letter." My answer was Kenya that becomes Enya. It's not a common name, but there's a famous Irish singer with that name.
There's also "Mali", "Ghana", and I can't entirely convince myself I've never heard of a woman named "Omalia".
Too bad it had to be the first letter: Cameron.
PARAPROSDOKIAN - beside or beyond expectations
Martha: Groucho Marx said, “I have had a pleasant evening... but this isn't it.â€
The Groucho quote I thought of was:
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend... Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
Martha: Always borrow money from a pessimist – he won't expect it back.
Doesn't seem to "turn the corner" as sharply (not expecting repayment is within the nature of a pessimist).
Contrasting best and worst, here's one I've read where the wording is unexpected:
An optimist thinks this is the best of all worlds. A pessimist... fears this is so.
As a parallel to Grant's story about Rich Little impersonating Ronald Reagan ("Well..."):
Speaking at a business dinner, a millionaire told his audience, “There are two secrets to success. One: Never tell everything you know.†… [Then he sat down.]
Without stealing material from current stand-up comedians, here are few more:
- We can complain that roses have thorns, or we can be glad that... thorns smell so good.
- I used to snort coke... but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
- Rose are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic... and so am I!
Sonic example: Prokofiev's Symphony No 1, movement 3 Gavotta – The cadence at the end of some phrases seem to take off at an unexpected, and somewhat humorous, angle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVijeVRAXB4 (from beginning to approximately 1:30)
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – I think we were all surprised that the caller was able to spell the word so quickly.
In the other direction, Big Bird (Sesame Street) sang the alphabet – not the song, but the entire alphabet as if it were one long word. (ROTFL the first time I heard this.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr5er4ueWBQ (song begins at approximately 1:20)